I am a university student living in Vilnius, Lithuania. Like many of my peers, I occasionally go to parties hosted by friends or fellow students. But after yesterday’s night, I don’t think I’ll ever go to a party again.
The night started off well. My university classmate, who lived with his parents instead of the dorm, called me and said his folks weren’t home, so he was planning on hosting a party. Of course, I accepted his invite ant set out to the party on trolleybus route 2. This route is one of the longest in the city, running from the university dorm village to the railway station in the south of town. It took me some 20 minutes to get to my friend’s place. The party was wonderful! We told jokes, flirted with girls, drank a couple beers and played video games on my pal’s PS5. Eventually, however, we were all tired and people began to go home. I looked at my phone, which said the time was 00:30. I said goodbye to my friend and left his apartment. I walked to the bus stop, but the timetable said the last trolleybus 2 had left an hour ago. I figured I would have to call a taxi. But as I pulled out my phone, I heard something. It was the unmistakable sound of a trolleybus approaching.
That’s weird, I thought. Trolleybuses never ran this late, not even on New Year’s. The sound got closer and closer. Soon, the trolleybus was in sight. It was an older model, a Škoda 14Tr, with the number 2 sign in the front window. I watched as the vehicle stopped and opened its doors. Figuring that it was probably delayed, I climbed onboard. Looking around, I realised I was the only passenger in the trolleybus. After all, it was midnight, so everyone was already asleep by this time. I punched my ticket and sat down on one of the seats. The doors closed and the trolleybus began moving again. I drowsily looked out the window as shops and streetlights flew by. Occasionally, the trolleybus would stop, but no one ever got on.
As I approached the dorm village, I noticed something.
The trolleybus wasn’t stopping anymore.
I looked at the driver’s reflection in the front window, but he was just sitting there, hands firmly on the wheel. Looking at him for 30 seconds, I realised he didn’t blink even once. Strange, I thought. I would’ve fallen asleep behind the wheel if I was in his place. As the last stop approached, I stood up and walked to the door, expecting the driver to stop and open it.
He didn’t. He just kept staring at the road in front and driving on, passing the last stop. Only thing is, I was sure the overhead lines ended there and didn’t go any further.
“Hey! Stop the bus, I want to get off!” - I said it loud enough for the driver to hear me, but the guy didn’t even flinch. At this point, I was starting to panic.
Now, one thing our city’s public transport has in common are hammers located above the windows. They can be used to smash the window in case of emergency. I looked around for one, but the only hammer in the entire trolleybus was above the door closest to the driver. Fuck this, I thought. No way am I going to approach that freak.
I then noticed that the middle door was a bit loose, and then it hit me. This was it, my only chance to escape. I ran down to the door and kicked it. It budged a bit, but didn’t open, so I tried again. Then, I heard it.
The driver was maniacally laughing at the wheel.
Panicking, I kicked one last time and the door flung open. Not hesitating for a moment, I jumped clear and landed in some bushes. Apart from some bruises, I wasn’t injured too badly. I looked at the road in front to see the rear lights of the trolleybus disappearing in the distance.
I had to walk 10 houses back until I got to my dorm. I took a quick shower and went to sleep. Obviously, after such a ride, I didn’t sleep well.
The next day, I went to the bus stop and saw that the wires did indeed end there. It was impossible for a trolleybus to move without being attached to the wires, I knew that much. I’m posting this as a warning to others. If you’re ever in Vilnius late at night and see a trolleybus driving slowly down the road after hours, do not board it. Don’t even go near it and call a cab instead. Otherwise, you might be taken to God knows where.